Blake Lamothe, right, addresses a group gathered in October 2012 at the Palmer Steaming Tender Restaurant on Depot Street, which he owns, signaling a special passenger train trip from New London, Conn., to Brattleboro Vt.
(Mark M. Murray / The Republican file)

This story has been updated to reflect Councilor Paul Burns' comments.

PALMER - Former Palmer Redevelopment Authority Chairman Blake E. Lamothe has been fined $5,000 by the state Ethics Commission for a conflict of interest law violation for participating in matters affecting the former Union Station, where he runs the Steaming Tender restaurant.

A press release issued by the Ethics Commission stated that "despite repeated warnings," Lamothe continued to participate in matters affecting Union Station while also serving as the redevelopment authority chairman.

The release states that Lamothe admitted to violating the conflict of interest law "by participating as a PRA member in efforts to secure millions of dollars in state funding to revitalize Union Station, a train depot he owns."

In response to the violation, Lamothe said he signed the Ethics Claim and paid the $5,000 fine.

"I made this decision not to fight this claim as it would have cost me more in lawyer’s fees to battle my cause," Lamothe wrote in an email.

Lamothe also wrote that it has been his "mission, passion and vision to revitalize the town."

"I will not let the letter submitted by Paul Burns, acting as a private citizen, detour my passion to revitalize rail service and revitalize the downtown district," Lamothe wrote.

Burns said that the Attorney General’s office dismissed his complaint without a ruling.

"For Mr. Lamothe to attempt to blame me for a ruling by the Ethics Committee is simply ludicrous," Burns wrote in a press release.

Lamothe, a vocal proponent of restoring passenger rail service to Palmer, something the town has not had in more than 40 years, has owned Union Station since 1987. Lamothe and his wife opened the restaurant inside the station in 2004.

In 1999 and in 2002, the Ethics Commission’s Enforcement Division sent confidential letters to Lamothe advising him that his ownership of Union Station, along with his efforts as a Palmer Redevelopment Authority member to rehabilitate the station and restore passenger rail service, raised concerns under the conflict law because of Lamothe's financial interest in those matters.

In 2002, Lamothe filed a written disclosure with the Palmer Redevelopment Authority and the town clerk acknowledging that he was “directly interested in the rehabilitation and development of Union Station and in restoring passenger rail service,” and that he would recuse himself from any Palmer Redevelopment Authority matter affecting the property.

Then in August 2012, Lamothe, as redevelopment authority chairman, voted to hire Larry Shaffer Associates Municipal Solutions, LLC to help apply for a $3 million MassWorks infrastructure grant through the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development to support the restoration of passenger rail service at Union Station.

A month later, Lamothe voted on and signed a resolution authorizing Shaffer Associates to submit a grant application on behalf of the redevelopment authority, seeking approximately $3.5 million for improvements to Union Station and the immediate surrounding area, including parking, train platforms and restrooms.

"Section 19 of the conflict of interest law prohibits a municipal employee from participating as such in a particular matter in which, to his knowledge, he has a financial interest. Lamothe had a financial interest in the MassWorks grant application, because it would provide funding for improvements to his property and its surrounding area, which would increase the value of Union Station," the Ethics Commission press release stated.

Lamothe wrote that he pursued the grant because he "felt in my heart it was beneficial to the town . . . While on the PRA I had voted on the act of necessity, being we only had three board members and three signatures were required to submit the Mass Works Grant."